Are we becoming slaves of technology?
These articles, books and podcasts have kept me busy this week:
Frank Eilers: Slaves of technology
WHAT IT SAYS: A Hays study 🌐 shows that while knowledge work became more digital, this does not automatically empower employees. Many report that new technologies are instead used to exercise more control.
WHY IT IS IMPORTANT: The pandemic shed a light on the huge emphasis of managerial control in the workplace. But to realise the potential of knowledge workers, a new corporate culture is needed that gives employees autonomy.
BUT WAIT … Eilers warns that reducing digital transformation to the introduction of new software leads to “digital Taylorism”, not a better way of working. And I could not agree more: digital tools need new processes, too. Spiegel 🌐, 26 November 2020. 🇩🇪
🎁 In a study that Dropbox commissioned on the future of work last year, we also discussed “digital Taylorism” and the “always on” culture that can be associated with new technologies. You can read the paper here 🌐.
Sarah O’Connor: The shift to remote work carries an inherent risk
WHAT IT SAYS: For some, the remote work experiment might have triggered a sense of unease: if I can WFH, could someone else do it more cheaply from Sofia, Mumbai or Manila? The short answer is: it’s complicated.
WHY IT IS IMPORTANT: The past year might persuade companies to shrink their “core” of permanent staff and expand their periphery of on-demand workers based anywhere with the help of platforms like Upwork or Fiverr.
BUT WAIT … This might be a slower process in Germany than in the US or the UK but I think the trend is certainly there. The key question then becomes: what is a “core” function within my company? Financial Times 🌐, 23 November 2020.
Andrew Hill: Make the most of the right to choose where to work
WHAT IT SAYS: Just as economists have been reassessing the tasks most susceptible to automation, it should be possible to do the same with tasks that can and cannot be done remotely, thus shaking up existing job profiles.
WHY IT IS IMPORTANT: Businesses may be tempted to simply revert to old job descriptions post COVID, but businesses that let staff take advantage of the flexibility of WFH will thrive. Those that revert to old boundaries will not.
BUT WAIT … This issue is closely related to the one above and is an interesting thought experiment which will lead to a fundamentally different labour market — and a totally different organisation of labour. Financial Times 🌐, 30 November 2020.
Antony Slumbers: The redundancy of real estate — and how to avoid it
WHAT IT SAYS: Many in the real estate industry seem to believe that offices are needed for creative work. They should rethink: It’s not working remotely that is the problem, it’s not knowing how to work remotely.
WHY IT IS IMPORTANT: Managers in all industries need to learn from “digital first” companies because these types of companies can be super efficient and blindingly effective. Digital native companies are hard to beat.
BUT WAIT … Slumbers gave a mind-blowing interview with Bruce Daisley on the future of real estate recently and he is exactly right: office space needs to be designed and managed in a manner that actually delivers value. LinkedIn 🌐, 23 November 2020.
➡️ Previously on The Remote Work Experiment: Dropbox 🌐 goes “virtual first”.
One more thing …
Researchers at the University of Konstanz in Germany did a survey among home office workers 🌐 back in March and have now surveyed them again. These were the findings:
- Going back to the office full-time reduces productivity and increases emotional stress.
- Respondents tend towards a two WFH / three office days model.
- Employers did a poor job of asking employees what they need and equip them with the right tools.
✨ My curated reading list on the remote work experiment that we currently live through expands every week. I have started to collect and tag all articles discussed here in this Notion document 🌐 for easy reference. And if you like this reading list, please consider subscribing via Medium and leave a 👏. Thank you!
